As the pandemic geared up, folks were ending up at home with a lot of time on their hands. Those languishing home improvement projects all of a sudden became a sensible way to fill that time. So as folks started to “dig in” on their maintenance and upgrade tasks, San Diego Gas & Electric had a sudden uptick of emergency calls from people hitting gas and power lines as they starting digging before researching.

In late April of 2020 the creative team at The Shipyard reached out to us to collaborate on a Public Safety Campaign to draw attention to this issue and encourage homeowners to “Call BEFORE you dig!” SDGE‘s 811 line would assist in identifying if it was safe to dig in areas slated for activity.

The original as was for two print ads and a modest amount of motion for web and social media use.

Being the start of COVID, productions were still navigating the safest ways to execute shoots while still delivering much needed visuals, especially in the arena of PSA’s! As we laid the groundwork for remote castings, remote wardrobe fittings, remote make-up tests, and ultimately remote shoot days, the project morphed into a heavier emphasis on motion with the print portion playing a supporting role.

The creative team at The Shipyard was excited about telling the story through stop motion animation… with people!

To keep variables at a minimum we opted to use my home as the location and incorporate ALL of the other “remote” options, so on the day of the production the only bodies on set were, talent, one stylist, 2 assistants, my producer, and a sanitation officer wiping every surface that might be touched. ALL other stakeholders were streamed in via Zoom. May 2020 was early days in COVID production, but we pulled it off.. our first COVID-Safe production.

The shoot itself was a day and a half of meticulous frame by frame capture of the various scenes, and then a whirlwind half day of executing the two print ads.

When all was said and don’t eh motion portion, which was supposed to be for web use only, exceeded the clients expectations and they option to expand the license to include full broadcast rights so as to air on local TV in the San Diego market. The print ads were also licensed for additional use beyond the original scope of work.

We’re thrilled to have been at the forefront and produce this great campaign for SDGE collaborating with the fantastic Creatives at The Shipyard.